The Stone Princess and the Shadow Dragon
by AnimeAvianAmericanShadeslayer
Summary: Alana hasn't had the best childhood. But she did have amazing friends. One day her abusive parents take her away from the only people who have shown her kindness. One day years later, she meets a pink haired boy and his blue cat who take Alana too Fairy Tail. Will Alana's future change? Will she ever find her childhood friends?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! New Fanfic that I had an idea for! OC X Rogue. Fairy Tail is seriously my life so, please enjoy! My OTP's will be in here as well such as NaLu, GruVia, JeRza, GaLe, RoWen, and ChaPpy! Sorry if you don't like these ships, and if you really can't stand them, then feel free to find another Fanfic that meets your OTP needs. Story time!**

*****BACKROUND STORY*****

"Sting-kun!" I giggled as the blonde and his black haired brother started tickling me. "Rogue-chan! P-please...st-stop!" I said in between giggles. These two boys are my best friends in the entire world!

"Oh alright, " Sting said and he and his brother removed their hands from me. I tried to catch my breathe, but I was laughing too hard. I felt a soothing hand rub my back and looked behind me to see it was Rogue.

"Try to breathe Alana. Calm down," he told me, but he was giggling at my non-stop laughter and so was his blue eyed companion. Eventually, I did calm down and caught my breath. The two boys, both now helping me stand up, were a year older than I. They are 6 and I am 5. Last night I got to sleepover at their home. Sting and Rogue are raised by dragons. Skiadrum is Rogue's father and Weisslogia is Sting's father. Both are very nice dragons.

Now we are playing in my yard. I wish my parents were dragons, but they are humans. They are not very nice humans. Although I have to hide my bruises from my friends, their dragon fathers know about it. They help me with my injuries when I go over.

I was chasing Sting and Rogue because we started to play 'Tag' when my mom and dad came out of the house with angry looks on their faces. They never hurt me infront of my friends before so I got scared and hid behind Sting. But my dad said something I didn't want to hear.

"Say goodbye, pack your bags now. We're moving. Today." Sting stayed infront of me in a protective manner and Rogue looked at me confused, but after a moment copied his brother's stance.

"I don't wanna!" I said to my parents. It was bold. It was risky. And it was a huge mistake. My mother pushed past the boys and scooped me up, holding me too tightly. I started to squirm to get out of her grasp. Kicking my legs, waving my arms everywhere, anything to make her let me go. All she did was tighten her grip on me, and it was hurting my chest, so I screamed.

Sting started to hit my mother's legs and Rogue was sitting on the foot directly under me.

"Let her go!" Sting exclaimed, but my mom ignored them and kept walking. Although, with two little boys on her feet, it was making it more difficult. My father eventually pried Rogue off my mom's leg, thn threw him to the ground. Father also kicked Sting in his stomach, which sent him flying a few feet back.

"NO! STOP IT!" I screamed. "DON'T HURT THEM!" Tears started rushing down my little face. I was still struggling in my mother's grip.

"ALANA!" My friends yelled. I saw a strange circle appear before Sting's hands.

"White Dragon Roar!" he said and a blast of light came from his hands and hit my father, who got knoked back a few steps. _Wow, _I thought. But by then my father ahd picked up both of my friends and carried them to the other side of the street we lived on, then came back. I had enough time to say their names before the door to my house closed.

"STING-KUN! ROGUE-CHAN!" And then my world was closed off from them. I was forced to pack only my clothes and wasn't allowed to take the trinkets the Sting and Rogue had made for me over the short years we were friends. Mother took each of them. She threw them, stepped on them, ripped them, and a few she put in the fire place. All the while I cried and screamed.

I fell into a fitful sleep that night. And that was when I was moved, so I couldn't fight back or scream. That day was the last time I ever saw my two friends.

After a few years I lost hope that they would come find me. Throughout those years and many more after, I was taught magic. Simple magic for the weather. Wind, rain, earthquakes, all that stuff. I was 16 when my parents died. I was finally free of the abuse. So I ran away from that place and back to my old house, past that and to where I vaguely remembered where Sting and Rogue lived. All i saw were two dragon skeletons, bleached white by time and the sun. I fell to my knees and started to cry. My friends were gone, and so were the dragons who were so kind to me as a toddler.

It felt like a few minutes, but judging by the position of the sun, it had been a few hours when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see a boy about my age with spiked up pink hair and what I thought was a tattoo on his arm. He wore a white scarf,, dark blue vest with yellow edges. Accompanying him was a...blue cat with wings? But i wasn't scared. The boy had kindness and understanding in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked me. I sniffed and nodded.

"What's your name?" the cat asked me, which caught me off gaurd.

"A-alana.." I stuttered out.

"Hi Alana. I'm Natsu and this is my partner, Happy," he told me with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," I said, my voice still a little shaky from crying.

"Did you know these dragons? Were one of them your parent?" he asked.

"I knew them, yes. But they were not my parents. Their children were my friends, but I haven't seen them in a long time. I-i didn't think they had died while I was gone," I started to cry again.

"My dad was a dagon too. He left a long time ago."

"I'm sorry"

"It's okay. I'll find him one day, won't we Happy?" he asked his cat.

"Aye, sir!" Happy replied. I giggled a little when he said it.

"Hey, you smiled," Natsu said. "By the way, are you a wizard?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked him while standing up.

"Well if you don't already have a guild, you should join Fairy Tail," he told me pointing at his tattoo, which I now can tell is a guild mark.

"Could you take me there if I said I wanted to join?" His face lit up when I asked him. He grabbed my wrist and I flinched. Memories of my parents binding them with a belt so they could hit me without me hitting back. Natsu took his hand away noticing my expression and reaction.

"Sorry..." he apologized.

"It's okay," i told him. "So, about this guild?" I hinted. He smiled again.

"Just follow me," I smiled back at him and gladly followed him.

We traveled by foot for a few days because Natsu said he gets motion sick. Eventually we arrived at the town of Magnolia and in front of an impressive looking building with a sign saying "Fairy Tail" with the symbol from Natsu's arm. I was in awe.

"Are you coming in or what?" Natsu asked me, snapping me out of it.

"Yeah," I smiled and went in behind him. After talking to a few people and meeting the master of the guild, I was given my own guild mark. I decided to put it just above my elbow. It's a silvery blue color.

Everyone in the guild were so kind to me. Something I hadn't encoutered in years. I actually felt happy here. Finally, finally I had a kind family.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter here everyone! Thanks so much for reading the first! It was kind of bad, but it was just the intro. From here on out, the writing will get much better! At least I hope it will…**

*****The Grand Magic Games*** **

It's been two years since I joined Fairy Tail. Natsu and I have been dating for about five months, but I can see that he doesn't really have strong feelings for me. I could see how he looks at Lucy. Mirajane told me that Natsu doesn't want to hurt my feelings by breaking up with me, but he should. I won't be upset and it won't distract me from our team winning the Grand Magic Games. That's right. I wasn't able to compete in last year's because I wasn't quite strong enough, but training with Juvia and Lucy's spirits during the games really helped me get to where I am now.

The announcers are about to announce the teams. Besides us and our B team, I have no idea who else is competing this time around. They start with the last place team in the qualifying round.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, today marks the first official day of the Grand Magic Games-kabo!" the emcee with a pumpkin head says. "Please welcome the qualifying teams! In 8th place we have... Cuatro Cerberus! Their star player Bacchus! " There wasn't too loud of a cheer for them.

"In 7th is Blue Pegasus with their star player... Ichiya! In 6th place we have Mermaid Heel with Kagura as their star player! In fifth place is Lamia Scale! Lyon is their star player this year. In fourth place is Luna Fish, whose star player is... Kiji Blu! In third we have the tigers. The Twin dragon slayers will be competing this year as well as the star players. Please welcome... Sabertooth!" The whole stadium roared with screams and applause, but all I could think of was the two boys that I was friends with when I was a child. I looked up at the Lacrima screen and sure enough, it was my friends. As my team and the B team being announced with star players Mira and Natsu, I covered my mouth with both hands and felt hot tears roll down my face. They were in joy, that I found them. I found the best friends I had ever had.

All the teams moved to their respective boxes except for one from each team. Erza went first for us, Mirajane for B team, Toby for Cuatro Cerberus, Hibiki from Blue Pegasus, Millianna from Mermaid Heel, Chelia from Lamia Scale, and Yukino from Sabertooth. I heard she was accepted back in when guild masters changed. I also heard from Lucy that Minerva isn't so bad anymore.

Even when the event started, I couldn't focus on Erza or Mirajane, so I excused myself saying I had to use the bathroom. Really, I went to go find Sting and Rogue. I looked and looked for a good ten minutes, through every corridor and in every room. No such luck. I was about to go back, but when I turned around, I hit something hard, but also kind of soft.

"Sorry..." I said. Then I looked up at the person I bumped into. I knew those cool blue eyes anywhere. Standing next to him was a cloaked Rogue. Without thinking, I tackled them both in a bear hug and started crying. Again. **((AN: I know she cries a lot. She had a bad childhood. Deal with it.)) **I couldn't even make words form when the two of them wrapped their arms around me. After a minute or two, I pulled away from them both and looked at them. They look different than I remember, but we were kids then, so it's understandable. I wiped my eyes and smiled.

"Sting-kun...Rogue-chan..." I said. "I found you."

"Told you it wasn't a hallucination, Rogue," Sting said.

"Guess I should start to trust my sight more then," Rogue replied. Then we all laughed. God, I missed them. I even thought that they forgot about me at one point.

"Where have you guys been?" I asked them. Sting looked at Rogue.

"We were under intense training a few days after they took you," Rogue told me.

"Well, it can't be helped then. All in the past. What matters now is that I found you," I smiled at the two boys.

"But...we didn't come looking for you. Aren't you mad at us?" Sting asked. I shook my head.

"No. For a while I was disappointed, but then I met Natsu after my parents died and he took me to Fairy Tail. It's a hell of a lot better family than those people who abused me." That's when it dawned on me. The three of us are in different guilds. After the games, we won't see each other for a long time. I guess I let my emotions show because Sting asked me what was wrong.

"Nothing. Just thinking," I said. They seemed to believe me which was good. I was about to ask them what has been going on in their lives since I left, when Lucy came up to us.

"Alana, I've been looking everywhere for you. Natsu didn't want to miss any of the action. The event is almost over. Come on," Lucy told me. I nodded in response, and then gave both Sting and Rogue hugs.

"See you guys later?"

"Definitely," said Sting. I smiled and followed Lucy back to where our team dwelled. Natsu greeted us when we got there. The task was just about done and everyone could see that both Fairy Tail teams were on top and Sabertooth was third. But even the B team was far ahead. It was a magic race. Erza was using her bunny suit for speed. Not the sexy bunny one. The other one. Mirajane was right there with her too in her take over form. I will always think it to be bad ass.

Suddenly, there was a flash of pink went a across the Lacrima screen and surpassed Erza and Mira. It was Chelia. She beat us. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Sky God Slayer magic can be very useful in races. Mira finished after Chelia and Erza a half a second later.

We still did fairly well and no one was overly upset. I didn't pay much attention to who came after the top three, especially when I started to overhear my boyfriend talking to Lucy. I got so wrapped up in listening to their conversation that I didn't notice Juvia trying to speak to me until she snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Juvia. What were you saying?" I asked her.

"An exceed with a frog costume on gave Juvia a note to give to you. Juvia thinks his name was Frosch," She tells me and hands the note to me. I thank her and read the note recognizing the slightly sloppy writing of Rogue on the paper and smiled. All there was written on the note was a time and a place. The time was twenty minutes from now and the place all the way across the city. I sighed realizing I'd have to run and I really hate running. I said goodbye to my friends and set on my way only running once I got outside of the arena.

I ran into a few people on the way and had to apologize. I accidentally made one lady drop her groceries and had to help pick up her strange fruits that she carried. That took about three minutes. I really had to pick it up now. As I ran I kept looking at the huge clock tower to check the time. _It'll be close..._I thought to myself.

I noticed that I had significantly slowed down out of exhaustion and was gasping for air when I reached my destination only to find...they weren't there. Sting and Rogue were nowhere in sight. After I caught my breath I asked around and no one had seen them here. I checked the note again to realize, I had the wrong place and could have saved myself all this trouble and running by walking maybe five minutes from the arena.

I couldn't take standing too much longer, and luckily there was a carriage close by. I gave the driver the note and he took me to the place. To be honest, I can't even pronounce the name. Now, I'm not sure why, maybe the road was bumpy, but I started to feel a bit sick. Not as much as Natsu on the train, but enough to make me gag. Though the sitting felt so nice on my aching feet.

By carriage, it only took me about 7 minutes to get to where I was supposed to be. When the driver stopped, I thanked him and gave him some money for his services. There was still sweat dripping down my face when I saw my two childhood friends standing in front of the door to the cafe with two cats. The one next to Sting had a dark reddish color fur and a little vest on. The other was on Rogue's head. It was a green color wearing a pink frog costume. I was guessing that was Frosch.

"You got lost, didn't you?" Sting teased. I pouted at that.

"Maybe I wouldn't have if I could've read what it said," I told them throwing a glance at Rogue. We all stood there for a minute, scowling at each other, but after a little bit, we busted out laughing. It lasted a normal amount of time. Just a few seconds and then it died down. I still couldn't believe that I had found my two best friends in the entire world again. I just smiled as the exceeds introduced themselves. I knew Frosch, and the one next to Sting was named Lector. _How cute! _I thought to myself. Almost all the dragon slayers I know of have exceeds and it kind of makes me wish I was a dragon slayer so I could get an Exceed of my own.

"Very nice to meet both of you," I told Lector and Frosch with a smile. Lector says something to me I've never really heard before.

"You're really pretty," he tells me and I feel my cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

"Fro thinks so too," Frosch adds and my cheeks get a little darker.

"Thank you, but really...I'm not. I do appreciate what you said though," I reply, suddenly feeling shy.

"Same as always. Try seeing what others see for once, Ally," Sting says. Again, my cheeks turn pink as I haven't been called Ally in years.

"I've always just seen what my parents would..." I reply.

"But they were complete bastards to you," Rogue added, but remembered I associated curse words with beatings. "Sorry, I meant bullies. You can't see what they see or...saw. You've got to stop being afraid of your past and just focus on the moment. "

"You're right, I know you are, but it's hard. Everything they say is drilled into my mind and I just...can't..."

"Hey, let's stop all this talk and get some Hot Chocolate. That should make you feel better," Sting interjected and winked at me. They know me too well. Hot Chocolate is my absolute favorite and I always had it when I was at their home.

The five of us walked into the cafe and Sting ordered the drinks for us all. Now, I don't know how many people have had Hot Chocolate made by a dragon, but there really is nothing like it at all. It seriously is the best tasting thing ever. But since I can't get it made by a dragon again, I've had to lower my standards... a lot. While we waited for the drinks to come out, the boys and I were catching up, telling each other things that happened since that day. And I was shocked to learn that the reason their dragons were dead was because they had killed them.

I had no idea what to say to them, so I just said I was sorry for them. The drinks finally arrived and I had hesitantly taken a sip of the dark liquid, savoring the warmth that the drink made my hands feel. When I did try the drink, I was pleasantl surprised by the quality of the chocolate. Most other places made with too much water. This however, i could taste the creaminess of the milk they had used. And the type of chocolate was definitely imported from somewhere. It may not be Dragon made, but this stuff was amazing. There was something else in the Hot chocolate that i couldn't quite place. I was trying to figure out waht the familiar, yet odd taste was when Rogue spoke up.

"It's cinnamon," he told me. I looked up at him and Sting and giggled. Their upper lips were stained with chocolate giving the impression of moustaches. They looked so ridiculous that I laughed even harder. Sting raised an eyebrow and glanced at Rogue. that's when he started laughing. Rogue repeated the action. When I was finally done laughing I was gasping for air and wiping away tears. They looked pretty ridiculous and I guess I did too. I finally felt the wetness of now lukewarm chocolate on my upper lip and licked it away. Rogue used a napkin and Sting just used his arm.

"I've missed this, " I admitted to them. Both nodded in agreement.

"It's nice to be able to do stuff like this again," Sting said.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch added. I smiled even more. I cannot get enough of Frosch's cuteness. he's too adorable for words. We all finished our drinks and headed out of the cafe. There was still a few hours left before the battles started, so we decided to do some sight seeing. I could've done this all day, but alas, we had to go back to see who was fighting who in the battle stage and to see the outcome. We said our goodbyes and I gave my two friends a hug each before returning to my team. It was time to determine the first battle phase of each team. I was so tired after those hours of fun that I fell asleep in my seat before I could even hear who was announced to fight. Luckily it wasn't me who was announced because when i awoke, Natsu was carrying me to the hotel everyone was staying at and it was about dusk. I was too tired to say anything, so I just snuggled up against his warm body and went back to sleep with a small smile on my face.

****Dang, that was long, but I hope you all enjoyed the chapter with all of it's fluff and stuff! **

**^-^ I just love writing fluff. Anyway, until next chapter minna~! Sayanara!****


	3. Chapter 3

**Gomen for the super late updates! My laptop was being a huge butt to me and wouldn't work~! -A- But by now, it has been fixed (or just worked long enough to publish) and I will update a lot faster now. Depending on the months it took to get this fixed, I will update that many extra chapters to make up for it. So Please don't be mad at me Reader-chan! **

**Woo! Another chapter! I'm so excited and really loving how this story is going. Don't you all? In this chapter, will Alana break it off with Natsu? And what happens to her during the next task of The Games? You can only find out by reading this chapter all the way through! Please don't forget to comment, it really helps me out a lot when I get feedback. Also, please ignore typos. I'm not using Microsoft Word so i apologize to the Grammar Nazi's out there. Arigato minna~! **

*****Time*****

The next morning I had woken up refreshed and ready to seize the day. I mentally thought of my plan today.

_First off, I need to go eat breakfast. Then, seeing as I didn't do it yesterday I'll speak to Natsu about Lucy and I. After that it'll be time for the next stage of the Grand Magic games. _

And that was my list of to do.

I got up and went to the bathroom to shower and get ready for today, bringing a change of clean clothes with me. Once I had finished putting on my gray tank top and black skinny jeans, along with the team jacket, I left the room and went down to the dining room where all the teams who were staying at the hotel were being served breakfast. I immediately spotted Natsu with a humongous plate of food, scarfing it all down as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. Grabbing a plate of my own and filling it with food, not as much as Nastu though, a lot less, and sat down next to him.

"Goodmorning, Natsu," I cheerfully told him while he was stuffing waffles down his throat. He paused with his mouth still half full and returned my greeting. I took a bite of my pancakes, but I knew I had to talk to him about what was going on.

"Hey, Natsu...I need to talk to you about something important," I said. He swallowed his food and answered.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I, uh.. well... uhm..." I couldn't come right out and say it and I had no idea of how to word what I wanted to say. He gave me a confused look and I took a deep breath. "I don't think we should be together anymore..." I finally said. Natsu raised an eyebrow at me.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"No, no! That's not it at all. However, we both know that the feelings you have for me aren't as strong as the ones you have for Lucy. I can see it in your eyes, how much you really love her. I think you need to be with her. I'm really not upset with this though...I just think it would be better if you were with someone you really love. And that's okay," I explained. His eyes went wide at first and I thought he'd be upset at me for saying all this out of the blue. I looked down at my plate waiting for a response.

"Well...is that what you really want? If it hurts any nakama, then I don't want to do it." I looked up at him and he had a solemn look on his face. I smile.

"Really, it's fine. Promise. You Won't hurt anyone by being with Lucy. I'm glad you don't want to hurt my feelings, Natsu, go do something that makes you happy now. " He smiled at me when I said this.

"Thank you," he told me.

"Of course, Natsu." He's given me everything. A home, a family, a new life since that day two years ago. I couldn't be more grateful to him, so I want to do anything I can to make him happy because of how much of an amazing friend he is. We both smile at each other and go back to eating. Of course, Natsu finishes first, scarfing down the food. When he's finished, he makes his way over to Lucy. Probably to tell her the good news.

After a few minutes, I finished and started walking to the arena. I walked slowly seeing as we didn't have to be there for hours, and took in all the sights. On my right was a flower shop. A man in a striped shirt was buying some pink tulips. Next to that was a bakery with people and mages from the games going in and out buying bread and other pastries.

To my left was a dark shoe shop, most likely closed. Right next to it was a magic shop, probably full of cheap tricks any normal person could purchase and use. I continued walking for a while and started to get the feeling of someone watching me. I turned around to see if anyone was there, but it was just the ordinary citizens doing their daily things, so I shrugged it off and continued walking.

After a few more minutes, however, I got the feeling again. When I turned around this time, someone covered my eyes. I was about to scream when my mouth was covered too.

"Guess who," I heard two voices say. I couldn't quite place the voices, but before I could answer my eyes were uncovered and I saw Sting and Rogue standing before me. They still hadn't uncovered my mouth, so I licked it and got the response I wanted. Sting pulling his hand away in disgust and wiping it on his vest.

"Gross, Ally," he said.

"You deserve it for scaring the crap outta me!" i said punching both of them in their chests. My hand to hand combat isn't very good, so it probably didn't phase them. I could see Rogue chuckling under his breathe, so I gave him a little pout.

"So mean..." I say. Sting then comes up and gives me a hug.  
>"Sorry, Alana. It was just fun. We didn't mean to scare you," He told me. I leaned into him and forgave them both.<p>

"So, what do you guys think today's challenge will be?" I ask the two dragon slayers.

"No idea. Especially since yesterday's race was so strange," Rogue said. Sting and I nodded our heads in agreement when some random person walked up to us.  
>"Oh my gosh... Sting and Rogue! I am a HUGE FAN of all Dragon Slayers! Can I get autographs?" the girl asked completely ignoring me. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt with none other than a dragon print on the front.<p>

"Um, sure thing. Sorry Ally. this'll just take a second," Sting said. I nodded as he and Rogue took the girl's book and started to sign it. She turned to me and spoke.

"Who the heck are you?" she asked with a disgusted look on her face.

"Alana. I'm part of Fairy Tail's team," I answer with a bit of annoyance in my voice.

"Are you a Dragon Slayer?" she continued.

"No, but I-"

"Then I don't care," she interrupted. I was ready to slap this little bitch across her face when Rogue handed her her book back.

"Here you go. Enjoy the games," he said. The girl took her book, smiled and thanked my friends, then left. Before she got too far, I called her a bitch. Which she is. Rogue tumped me on the back of my head and told me what I said was rude.

"Did you not hear what she said to me? I call them as I see them." I had crossed my arms on my chest with my eyebrows knit together, showing how pissed I was.

"Calm down a little. I'm sure someone will be wanting your autograph soon anyway. You're a Fairy Tail wizard, after all," Rogue continued. "Besides, it's only one person. Don't let her get to you."

"Whatever. Can we just go?"

"Sure." I walked in between them the rest of the way to the arena. Unfortunately though, we got stopped many times for autographs. Guess who wasn't asked for one. Me. It got really annoying that we had to stop every five minutes for some fan of Sting and Rogue's. But, I'm not that popular yet, so I just have to deal with it.

I changed my focus on street performers playing one of my favorite songs. I decided to stick around and watch them. I listened to the beauty of the song that is "Sands of Time" originally by the band Back-On.

"aitaiyotte ima sugu ni demo sakebitai no ni

mou YOU AND I ienai

iji wo hattemo tsukamenai ano goro wa ude no naka ni ita no ni

kimi wa mou inai

BABY COME BACK TO HERE FOR ME

sou to nari ni I WANNA SAY IT

YOU AND I otagai ienai aenai

ano toki kara sunao ni narenai mahou ga tokenai

I WANNA USE THE SANDS OF TIME kimi no soba ni itai…." I heard the performers sing and I quietly sang along. I knew this song by heart, and the band who originally sings it is just amazing. When the song was over, I gave the street performers some jewl and complimented them on how well they played that song. We started this whole conversation on music and certain bands that we had in common. It was great fun talking to these talented people, but we got interrupted by Rogue.

"Alana, we have to go now," he said. I nodded and said goodbye to the street performers as we walked away. Talking to those people made me feel a whole lot better. Also, just being by my friends makes me happy. Especially when no one else bombards them with autograph books.

Within a few short minutes we reach the arena, which is already half full with spectators. I left my friend to make my way to the box for my team and waited patiently. It was cool being able to see all the people filling up the seats so fast. After about ten minutes, Mirajane showed up.

"Good morning, Mira," I said cheerily.

"Morning Alana! Oh, I heard the news," she relpied.

"News?"

"You and Natsu split up. I'm sorry."

"Oh that. Thanks, but I'm fine. It was mutual and even you said he was in love with Lucy, so it's fine."

"Have you already moved on?" she gasped.

"What? No...yes...I don't even know. I just know that it didn't hurt to break up. He's the one who brought me to Fairy Tail in the first place, so all I want is for him to be happy," I told her. "And it's obvious to everyone that Lucy makes him happiest."

"I make who happy?" I heard someone say. Mira and I turned around at the same time and saw none other than Lucy Heartfilia, my absolute best friend in the guild, besides Lisanna, of course.

"Natsu," Mira and I say at the same time, then start laughing about it. Lucy joins in, but its sort of a nervous laughter.

"What's wrong, Lucy? Don't you like Natsu?" I ask her.

"It's not that, I just…"

"You're worried about our friendship, aren't you? Well, don't you worry, Lucy. Nothing will change," i smiled at her.

"Good, " she said as she smiled back at me and sat down to my left. After a few more minutes of talking between the three of us, the rest of our team joined us. Natsu and Gildarts. Gildarts actually showed up, everyone was surprised, but I think he still feels bad about not recognizing Cana as his daughter, so he's sticking around a lot more.

As soon as we were all situated, the announcers announced the next task.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boy and girls, distinguished guests, and guild masters, Welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games!" he said. The whole stadium seemed to shake from the roaring and cheering of the crowd. My adrenaline was getting higher each second, ready for whatever today brings us.

"Today's task for each of our fantastic teams is one that is grueling and difficult for even the most skilled mages. Today, we have the Monster Hunt!" The crowd cheered again. I wasn't so sure what the rules were, but by the name, the task seemed self explanatory.

"The mage who defeats the most monsters hidden in the city will receive 10 points. Second place 8, third place 6, fourth place 4, fifth place two, and sixth place will receive one point. Teams, choose who you will send out and then the games will begin!" more roaring from the crowd. I had barely turned to face the rest of my teammates when Gildarts said, "Alana, you will be doing this task."

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second there. Difficult for even the most skilled mages, Gildarts. I barely made the cut this year! Why don't you do it?"

"Because you will. The first time we won the games, Erza defeated 100 monsters on her own."

"But that's ERZA!" I protested. "I'm no way even close to her skill level!"

"Go, now. As captain and oldest of this team, I say you will go."

"Fine, but don't be shocked when I lose," I told them as I left. The whole way down to the field I thought, _Go yourself, or send in Natsu. Even Lucy could do a better job than me! Hell, I bet little Asuka could do better than I. _I kept thinking stuff like this as I took my place among the rest of the people participating. Of course I see Elfman from the other team. Along with Sting, Hibiki from Blue Pegasus, Toby from Cuatro Cerberus, Lyon from Lamia Scale, Kagura from Mermaid Heel, and Kiji Blu from Luna Fish. God dammit Gildarts!

The Pumpkin Headed guy told us that if we attack each other, we are disqualified from the round and out team will get one point. Great... But seriously, what am I going to do to monsters? Cover them in an avalanche? Rain on them? Guess I'll find out how well that goes. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Master Makarov and Master Mavis talking. Makarov was facepalming. Oh, this can't be good…

We made our way to the cleared out city where we'd be hunting the monsters. I guess Elfman noticed my nervousness, because he came over to me before we started.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just try your best and fight like a man," he said.

"Thanks. Good Luck to you too," I replied.

Then the buzzer sounded and everyone rushed off. Except for me. I watched Elfman go in one direction and Sting go in another. _Okay, Ally, just calm down and focus. No one expects you to win this, so just...try your best and all will be fine. _I tried to reassure myself. I calmed my breathing and focused all my senses. Okay, here we go. No pressure. Just thousands of people watching me on Lacrima screens… heh…

I wanted to conserve my energy, so I walked into the street in front of me. The first place I thought to check were places we wouldn't think for the monsters to be hiding. I looked in the shops. I saw this lovely dress shop and looked into the window. Sure enough, a hideous creature leapt out of the window and right in front of me. This thing is so ugly, I can't even describe its ugliness. Think of the ugliest thing you have ever seen. Add cow manure and about five hundred pounds of more ugly. Also sores on its body. Yuck. There was no way I would let that thing touch me, so I immediately used a sandstorm spell. Now that the thing can't see, it should be easier to attack it.

With my Weather magic, I created a miniature monsoon, or at least thats what I meant to do. Instead of water and wind coming from my hands, I got pebbles shooting out like bullets.

"No! that's not what I wanted!" I shouted to no one. This is very very bad. And now, the creature was furious, and coming after me.


End file.
